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When Associate Professor of Practice in Religion Trish Zimmerman learned that St. Olaf College would be acquiring a Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition — a state-of-the-art reproduction of the original hand-written, hand-illuminated text that is one of just 299 of its kind worldwide — she was thrilled.

As part of courses she’s taught in the past, Zimmerman has taken students on a two-hour trek to Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, for visits that included short tours of selected pages of the original Saint John’s Bible on display. But with this new acquisition, students can now spend as much time as they want with the seven-volume Heritage Edition, which is a faithful copy of the original Saint John’s Bible that was written on calfskin vellum using traditional tools and inks, right on St. Olaf’s campus.

“It slows you down when you’ve got a format like that,” Zimmerman says. “It’s a combination, in Christianity, of both the words and the Word. It’s not just a book, it’s a presence — it draws on the full range of sensory experiences.”

The acquisition was made possible by a generous gift from Tim ’73 and Jan Maudlin ’72 and Tad and Cindy Piper. The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition is part of a larger gift of three sacred texts from the Maudlins and Pipers that will also bring a Torah Scroll and an illuminated Qur’an to St. Olaf’s Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community and will be used by College Ministry, faculty, staff, and students.

“Our hope is that these gifts will be a way to empower students and encourage them to examine faith and values in an inclusive way.”

— Tim Maudlin ’73

While the searches for an appropriate Torah Scroll and illuminated Qur’an to bring to campus are still in process, the three texts will ultimately provide enormous spiritual opportunities to those on campus and beyond, says Lutheran Center Director and Martin E. Marty Regents Chair in Religion and the Academy Deanna Thompson ’89.

“We will be able to hold certain services such as High Holy Days on campus when we have a Torah Scroll,” she says, noting that Jewish students have traveled to Carleton for these services in the past. “The Qur’an will also be an important new addition for practicing Muslims on campus for Friday prayer and other gatherings.”

The educational, artistic, and community possibilities offered by the texts are similarly significant, says Vice President for Mission Jo Beld. In addition to interacting with the physical text, students, faculty, and staff can explore digital images of a select number of the illuminations in St. Olaf’s newly created Saint John’s Bible Digital Resource Collection. The images may also be projected more widely in class sessions, public presentations, worship services, or artistic performances such as the St. Olaf Christmas Festival. (Readers without a St. Olaf login can see examples of these resources by visiting Explore The Saint John’s Bible, a website maintained by the Saint John’s Bible Program at Saint John’s University.)

Significantly, while these physical texts are both rare and valuable, they will not be tucked away in St. Olaf’s archives or placed behind glass. “They will be housed in the College Ministry Office, because these are living texts that our communities of faith will use,” Thompson says. A St. Olaf carpenter will create unified, custom cabinetry for each of the volumes and the scroll.

Beld, meanwhile, hopes to create opportunities for the wider community to interact with the texts during major events including Homecoming and Family Weekend and Reunion. “These will be amazing new resources that our alumni will be able to engage with directly,” she says. “They’re meant to be in community. They’re meant to be used.”

For the Maudlins, whose support helped launch the Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community in 2018 and who provided the lead gift for the Sacred Texts Initiative, having physical copies of all three sacred texts represents a concrete way to live out the “rooted and open” philosophy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). This philosophy, which also guides St. Olaf, is one that is both deeply rooted in Lutheran Christianity and boldly open to — and connected with — insights from other religious and secular traditions. “Our hope is that these gifts will be a way to empower students and encourage them to examine faith and values in an inclusive way,” Tim Maudlin says.

“This is an invitation — in an era of division among many traditions — to say: let’s meet together around these texts. Don’t erase your identity, but bring your full identity. I’m proud of St. Olaf for being a place that’s going to do that.”

— Associate Professor of Practice in Religion Trish Zimmerman

St. Olaf President Susan Rundell Singer is grateful for the opportunities that this gift will provide for students and the broader campus community.

“Art, history, and faith all come together in this extraordinary gift that will advance academic excellence at St. Olaf while extending our commitment to the rooted and open approach embraced by the ELCA,” she says.

A gift fueled by conversation and creativity
The decision by the Maudlins and Pipers to support the trio of sacred texts was the result of a collaborative effort — and it’s already being considered a blueprint for other institutions to follow.

Initially, Tim Maudlin and Tad Piper — who had spent a dozen years together in a Bible study and who both served on the St. Olaf Board of Regents — discussed supporting a gift that could bring one of the Saint John’s Bible Heritage Editions to campus along with other texts that could advance the spiritual imagination on campus. 

As part of St. Olaf’s discernment process, Beld invited faculty and staff to a presentation about the potential gift by Rev. John Ross, executive director of the Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition Program. More than 20 individuals representing 10 different departments and programs across the institution attended and weighed in. They were buzzing with ideas about its potential use — and suggested that the addition of a Torah Scroll and a Qur’an might make the gift even more meaningful.

“It was totally exciting, and demonstrated to me why I love St. Olaf so much — they took the kernel of an idea, brought in many people to brainstorm about it, and came up with an even bigger notion of sacred texts. We hope that it will promote a lively discussion around different faiths — and build respect across faiths.”

— Tad Piper

Tim and Jan Maudlin agreed that the time was right. “There is a particularly pressing need in our nation and globally for expertise in interreligious dialogue and relationship,” they note. 

As chair of the Lutheran Center Advisory Council, Tim Maudlin believes that the gift of the sacred texts will nourish the St. Olaf community and support the mission of St. Olaf’s Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community. The Sacred Texts Initiative, which is sponsored by the Lutheran Center, builds on its interfaith and interreligious positions and programming, including funding the Associate Chaplain for Jewish Life and the Associate Chaplain for Muslim Life in the College Ministry Office.

Tad Piper says the collaboration felt particularly meaningful. “It was totally exciting, and demonstrated to me why I love St. Olaf so much — they took the kernel of an idea, brought in many people to brainstorm about it, and came up with an even bigger notion of sacred texts,” he says. “We hope that it will promote a lively discussion around different faiths — and build respect across faiths.”

Ross says that he believes St. Olaf’s creative approach may fuel others to follow suit. “The Sacred Texts Initiative will be the model for others around the world,” he says.

Zimmerman, for one, agrees that St. Olaf is breaking new ground. “This is an invitation — in an era of division among many traditions — to say: let’s meet together around these texts,” she says. “Don’t erase your identity, but bring your full identity. I’m proud of St. Olaf for being a place that’s going to do that.”